Defending Microsoft's E3 (as best as we can)

E3 2013 happened this week, and if you're even remotely connected to any one of the numerous gaming forums, blogs, and news sites, you pretty well know what happened.  For those of you who don't have their pulse on the gaming world, Sony more or less completely invalidated Microsoft's strategy and were declared the winner of next generation before it's even happened.

Friends know me as a Sony supporter, and I have been for the last year or so, turning when they offered the Instant Game Collection (IGC) at last year's E3, so this news has made me happy.  But what I want to do here is play devil's advocate for Microsoft and try to explain why they're doing what they're doing, and maybe throw in a Simpsons reference along the way.

Yep, that'll do nicely.

Microsoft Didn't Make This Decision Lightly

When major corporations make decisions about the future of their company, there's quite a bit of research and industry knowledge that goes into it.  What they have is a Vision that is backed by a Road Map.  What their Vision is is anybody's guess, but it seems to follow their original strategy of becoming the one box in your living room that controls all of your entertainment needs.  Sure, right now it needs to be hooked up to a cable box to get full use out of it, but what if it didn't?  What if you could plug a coax cable right into the Xbox and let it handle everything?  Maybe not this generation, but last generation could barely handle TV.  The Xbox One is the natural progression to their goal of controlling the living room.

But gamers want games, not TV!  Well, take a look at the data that was collected on you while you used your Xbox these past 8 years.

All of these things are just like the others...

We told Microsoft that we use the Xbox 360 for watching Netflix when we're not playing the latest big release, so they enhanced those features.  Since there's only a handful of major titles that release in a year, Microsoft analyzed how we're utilizing our consoles and developed features to accommodate our perceived wants that meshed with their vision.  Win - Win in MS's eyes.

The Steam Approach

Years ago, Valve debuted Steam which we all know turned out to be a massive success that PC gamers tend to love.  What many have forgotten, however, is that when it first came out it was universally reviled by PC gamers because of the always online, DRM supported, can't sell or trade games away product that they were offered.  It took some tweaks to its presentation, and some time aided by massive discounts via Steam Sales, but it eventually became the greatness that it is today.

Microsoft may be setting themselves up to do something similar.  If they are, they're playing their hands close to their chest and may give gamers a reason to want to subscribe to such a model.  Time will tell on this one.

Making Money for Investors (because they're legally obligated to)

Take a look at This Article from The Motley Fool stating the following:

In what alternate universe did this happen?

From a business standpoint, they're not wrong.  Microsoft as a publicly traded company has a legal obligation to protect its finances and make its investors a return on money they've put into the company.  At and around E3, Microsoft let its investors know how they're protecting publishers and a few ways that they will be making a profit. 

This is, of course, a short sighted approach.  For at least a short time Microsoft will be profitable and backed by Wall Street because of the business decisions they have made protecting their investments.  Sony on the other hand is not making as much money as they could be, instead shooting for a long term investment in its customers.  It's hard to say which one will be more beneficial, but quick money is always seen as better.

A Possible Trick Up Their Sleeves

 

In pure speculation, Microsoft likely has plans that involve their always online component and DRM system that will benefit and be embraced by their player base, but isn't ready to show them to the public (or their competition) yet.  As we have seen how other companies have mismanaged their customer's expectations (looking at you Blizzard and EA), it's hard to picture how this could be a good thing. 

If Microsoft can make this service not only palatable, but down right demanded, they're going to be dominating control of the living room.  They're not done yet.  Years from now we may look back on these announcements and realize how in control Microsoft was the entire time.